The article deals with sensor fusion and real-time calibration in a homogeneous inertial sensor array. The proposed method allows for both estimating the sensors’ calibration constants (i.e., gain and bias) in real-time and automatically suppressing degraded sensors while keeping the overall precision of the estimation. The weight of the sensor is adaptively adjusted according to the RMSE concerning the weighted average of all sensors. The estimated angular velocity was compared with a reference (ground truth) value obtained using a tactical-grade fiber-optic gyroscope. We have experimented with low-cost MEMS gyroscopes, but the proposed method can be applied to basically any sensor array.
Global satellite navigation systems (GNSSs) are the most-used technology for the localization of vehicles in the outdoor environment, but in the case of a densely built-up area or during passage through a tunnel, the satellite signal is not available or has poor quality. Inertial navigation systems (INSs) allow localization dead reckoning, but they have an integration error that grows over time. Inexpensive inertial measurement units (IMUs) are subject to thermal-dependent error and must be calibrated almost continuously. This article proposes a novel method of online (continuous) calibration of inertial sensors with the aid of the data from the GNSS receiver during the vehicle’s route. We performed data fusion using an extended Kalman filter (EKF) and calibrated the input sensors through error backpropagation. The algorithm thus calibrates the INS sensors while the GNSS receiver signal is good, and after a GNSS failure, for example in tunnels, the position is predicted only by low-cost inertial sensors. Such an approach significantly improved the localization precision in comparison with offline calibrated inertial localization with the same sensors.
This paper presents the implementation of ORB-SLAM3 for visual odometry on a low-power ARM-based system, specifically the Jetson Nano, to track a robot’s movement using RGB-D cameras. Key challenges addressed include the selection of compatible software libraries, camera calibration, and system optimization. The ORB-SLAM3 algorithm was adapted for the ARM architecture and tested using both the EuRoC dataset and real-world scenarios involving a mobile robot. The testing demonstrated that ORB-SLAM3 provides accurate localization, with errors in path estimation ranging from 3 to 11 cm when using the EuRoC dataset. Real-world tests on a mobile robot revealed discrepancies primarily due to encoder drift and environmental factors such as lighting and texture. The paper discusses strategies for mitigating these errors, including enhanced calibration and the potential use of encoder data for tracking when camera performance falters. Future improvements focus on refining the calibration process, adding trajectory correction mechanisms, and integrating visual odometry data more effectively into broader systems.
11 March 2026 in IEEE Transactions on Instrumentation and Measurement
Autonomous vehicles are widely used in many applications in both indoor and outdoor settings. In practical situations with limited GNSS signals or degraded lighting conditions, the navigation solution may rely only on inertial sensors and as result drift in time due to errors in the inertial measurement. In this work, we propose WiCHINS, a wheeled and chassis inertial navigation system by combining wheel-mounted-inertial sensors with a chassis-mounted inertial sensor for accurate pure inertial navigation. To that end, we derive a three-stage framework, each with a dedicated extended Kalman filter. This framework utilizes the benefits of each location (wheel/body) during the estimation process. To evaluate our proposed approach, we employed a dataset with five inertial measurement units with a total recording time of 228.6 minutes. We compare our approach with four other inertial baselines and demonstrate an average position error of 11.4 m, which is 2.4% of the average traveled distance, using two wheels and one body inertial measurement units. As a consequence, our proposed method enables robust navigation in challenging environments and helps bridge the pure-inertial performance gap.
In this study is proposed and evaluated an adaptive traffic signal control system designed to synchronize the road and railway signaling, minimize collision risks, and improve traffic flow. Results show that adaptive control reduced average queue length for over 46%, cut vehicle delay for 34%, lowered stop frequency for 74%, and decreased CO2 emissions for nearly 46% compared to static control. Further analysis examined the effect of varying the distance between intersections and railway crossings, revealing significant safety and efficiency gains when the separation exceeded 80 m. The findings demonstrate that intelligent, sensor driven traffic management can substantially enhance both safety and throughput in these complex transport nodes, while delivering environmental benefits.